AL GOP Official: “Freaking Queers Have Gotten Too Much Sympathy”

Now we know how a Republican official in Alabama is celebrating Pride month.

Responding to a Facebook post about a Christian baker who wouldn’t make a gender transition cake for a customer, Mobile County Treasurer Phil Bensonwrote in a now-deleted comment that he supported the baker because “Freaking queers have gotten too much sympathy. A real abomination.”

He also said the customer should “move to a place he is wanted.”

Sounds like that good old Southern hospitality.

Since that comment began spreading, Benson has been anything but apologetic. An interview with a local NBC affiliate involved him defending his bigotry and telling the reporter to read a Bible.

“Do you understand, though, how your words can be offensive to gay people or to anybody?” asked NBC 15’s Andrea Ramey.

“And gay people are offensive to me. Do you understand that?” replied Benson.

“All gay people, just because they’re gay, are offensive to you?” asked Ramey.

“They can be very offensive. All this beautiful rainbow stuff. When one of our presidents lit the White House with wonderful rainbow colors that offended me,” replied Benson.

Benson initially insisted before he would do an interview that Ramey sit down in his office and read chapter 19 in the book of Genesis in the Holy Bible, which is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. That passage has been used as the biblical condemnation of homosexuality.

Being a Christian isn’t an excuse for being a raging dick.

We’re offended because he’s an elected official demonizing some of his own constituents because of their mere existence.

He’s offended because rainbows.

He’s pointing to a biblical clobber verse while having the audacity to whine about how gay people get too much sympathy. Maybe he would understand why that is if politicians spoke about Christians the way he speaks about gay people.

Because this is Alabama, his remarks received only a perfunctory rebuke from the state GOP.

Alabama Republican Chairman Terry Lathan said, “Mr. Benson’s comments represent his own personal opinion. I find them to be unnecessary, divisive and reflect solely on himself.”

Notice that Lathan doesn’t say Benson is wrong. The Alabama Republican Party agrees with everything he said; they just don’t want to say it in an official capacity. Their focus is on passing anti-LGBTQ laws.

None of that is surprising. The Republican Party as a whole stands for bigotry. Benson’s comments aren’t even newsworthy to people whose legislative goals involve punishing LGBTQ people any way they can.